Game Review: Blade Assault

By JT

Player(s): 1
Platform(s): PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, XBox Series, Nintendo Switch

Blade Assault is a rogue-lite 2D pixelated platformer, sprinkled with some RPG elements and given a cyberpunk feel. You're forced to fight against the corrupt military, Esperanza, with the help of other resistance members and various characters along the way. As the main protagonist Kil, you find yourself on the run, having recently escaped from prison. Then you're attacked. You wake up in a room next to a bar called "The Jazz Bar". Kil now seeks revenge against the Esperanza with the help of many fellow fighters such as Jenny, Darcy, and Zett. Each with their own specific skill set, they hope to achieve what many others before them could not. Can the resistance fighters persevere in this desperate fight against suppression? Originally available on PC, it has a new console release from PM Studios. Now, let's take a look at Blade Assault for the Nintendo Switch!

Blade Assault is a typical rogue-lite platformer where you go in, attack, die, restart, rinse, and repeat. There are elements for a story, but none of it fully realized from the first time waking up inside your room. The Jazz Bar is your centralized hub for anything, including gaining allies, new weapons, and new skills. The skill tree is more than I would've thought a game like this would have. Actually, it can be a bit much when you factor in the five different in-game currencies. Red Gems, Roses, Chips, Gold, and Cubes, each of which have their own uses. Red Gems and Roses are solely for mission runs and reset to zero once the entire mission is over, either by completing it all in one sitting or by dying. Chips are can be used to upgrade weapons or purchase drones, and the drones you purchase have to be re-purchased once you return to The Jazz Bar from your mission. Gold is most often used towards your character traits, which can be equipped for future fights, such as equipping one which increases attack speed. You can also use Gold during your mission to decrease your assault level, which can give enemies a strong advantage in battle if left unchecked. Cubes can be used to increase friendship levels from the bartender, which can be a big help later on. Friendship levels allow you to obtain playable characters, along with decreasing the cost of items you have to purchase along the mission. With there being so many types of currencies it feels like the developers could have done away with perhaps one or two and lessen the grind a bit.

Each character has their own set of weapons, with Kil initially having the most powerful weapons of the group. So, with every character choice I was given, I always wound up settling on Kil. Kil just seems like the only choice, at least for my play style. Even the weapons didn't feel quite right for my own type of play style. I've always gone with quick and agile, and the sword allows for this. However, there is also an axe and a blaster that could be equipped along with different skill sets. Jenny is equipped with a grappling hook which allows for the grouping of enemies, pulling them closer to you, but a more unique skill is "Long-Term Investment" which, for every 100 Gems, Normal and Skill attacks both increase. If you're someone who prefers to collect Gems then it might be the skill that makes up for Jenny's damage output. Darcy uses a Katana and is pretty quick on her feet, but she makes for her lack of Normal attacks with her Skill attacks. Zett is a brute and with that he has very elevated attack levels, with his fists really being able to put enemies in their place. Even with the diverse range of skills and characters, I still would always go back to Kil. There are skills you can also obtain during missions to replace others, but I always found myself sticking with the main set. Maybe over time I would learn to appreciate change?

There are both items to find, along with cores to acquire, which can be leveled up or replaced entirely. Most will require Gems, but some may require Roses or Gold. Each item or core has their respective use. Cores are used to power up your weapon using elements (Ice, Fire, and Electric) and can give you offensive or defensive buffs alike, but can also replace each other if they conflict. Items are used aside from cores and can only ever be leveled up, not replaced, unless by means of an NPC found in "Hotel Halona". Hotel Halona is considered a rest stop between stages that allow you to recharge some HP and purchase items. Whenever you're ready you can either call a Limo or go underground to purchase items and continue on to the next stage. Another rest stop is a ship where you're able to bring down the Assault Level as needed, heal up, or upgrade the cores currently in your inventory.

The graphics rely heavily on 2D sprite animations which aren't terrible, but if I had to compare them to other 8-bit games from 25 years ago I would still be saying the same, which isn't a good thing. There are no real expressions for the characters, and anything attempted falls very flat. Also, the game itself also must not be optimized properly on the Switch (the version this review is based on) because many fights would drop frames drastically for a second or two. If you had too many enemies on screen at once the game would stutter. The frame would freeze for a second or two then catch up almost automatically. It wasn't a huge deal breaker for me, but it certainly didn't help things when bosses were involved. The bosses were also not very creative, and the more you realized their pattern the more they felt like bullet sponges rather than actual challenges. So, as long as you're able to get through the stages themselves, you can probably consider yourself relatively safe if you know what to look out for. Either that or you can just combo, dodge, combo, dodge, in that order. As far as games in the same genre go, this one was surprisingly easy in comparison.


The sound design is good, not great. There aren't any big explosions or various other soundbytes that will catch your attention. The Jazz Bar music was very welcomed every time you died, but it isn't at all very memorable. With each attack and every slice nothing was out of sync. The boss fight music was sub-par, and the various stage music was just okay. Skill attacks were just generic zap, flame, and wind sounds to put it simply. It was all good, but nothing stood out beyond that.

The controls were really responsive, even coming directly out of a giant lag spike. There were no times where I didn't feel in control of my character, unless I hit with something that stunned my character. With every run it was combo, dash attack, jump out, jump behind enemies, dash, combo, and repeat. I never once felt the need to use my Sub weapon (blaster). In fact, there were times during the mission where you're able to gamble and get one de-buff for a major buff, and Sub weapon was always on the de-buff. It just wasn't useful to me, but your playstyle may vary. Everything was a grind at the beginning, and can still be considered much of a grind from level 30 and beyond. This is because when you die you always start back up at the very beginning, from The Jazz Bar. You must fight the same bosses over and over again, along with the same exact enemies to get to them. The only things that change are the stages, items, and cores. Assault Levels are also randomized which can either lead to the toughest boss fights, the toughest enemy fights, or even one where all Normal enemies become Elite enemies, meaning all enemies are given an added shield.

Overall, Blade Assault is a mostly one and done game. You can add challenges for yourself, but once you've experienced your first full playthrough you might never touch the game again. Overall the game doesn't quite hit the nail on the head. For the price of the Switch version you're better off going with the Steam release at half the price, or even less when it's on sale. It's got good elements within the game, such as the skills, but it's not enough to recommend this game at anything more than a deep discount. After just an hour or two in I was getting bored quickly. I had to stop to take breaks between sessions. It wasn't until I became really overpowered that I started to actually have fun with the game. Movement speed, attack speed, and the wide range of skill sets were what kept me engaged. Hours upon hours of grinding, with little to show for it in the end. With every death I got stronger, but it also felt like there was no end. It was a short game with a lot of padding. There is an end, but it wasn't enough to really even satisfy me. If there is a sequel it needs to take its time and give us a world better than the one here. It doesn't need to be story-rich, just give us a world we can feel immersed in.

For More Information on Blade Assault:
https://www.pm-studios.com/Projects/Blade-Assault

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Story: D+
Gameplay: C+
Graphics: C-
Sound: C
Value: D

Overall: C-

Pros:
+Skill sets are good.
+Nice range of items.
+Handles fluidly, even with continuous lag spikes getting in the way of my enjoyment. In fact I was actually impressed because the controls handled so well.

Cons:
-Tedious stage runs.
-Enemy variety felt lackluster.
-Got bored fighting the same exact bosses run after run.
-Nothing memorable. Even The Jazz Bar feels kind of a waste.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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